Arizona State University

How do you bring order to one of the largest, most complex web environments in higher education? In this Engage Denver 2026 highlight, Mike, lead web platform engineer at Arizona State University, sits down with Acquia Chief Market Officer Jennifer Griffin Smith to share the story behind ASU's ambitious digital transformation.

Mike walks through the monumental effort of consolidating more than 1,000 modules and 426 separate sites onto Acquia Site Factory, turning a sprawling, decentralized web landscape into a unified, governed, and component-based platform. He explains how building a robust design system brought consistency and efficiency across the university's vast digital footprint, empowering teams to move faster without sacrificing quality or control.

Perhaps most importantly, Mike reveals why he started with governance as the foundation—treating it as the true source of truth that everything else builds upon. It's a practical, hard-won perspective for any organization wrestling with scale, fragmentation, and the challenge of balancing autonomy with standardization.

Whether you manage a handful of sites or hundreds, this conversation offers valuable lessons on platform strategy, design systems, and the discipline of governance. Watch now to hear how ASU reimagined its web presence with Acquia Site Factory.